Assistant Secretary Grover J. (Russ) Whitehurst of the U.S. Department of Educational Research and Improvement created a presentation on evidence-based education (EBE) — education that results from selecting educational programs, practices and strategies that have strong empirical evidence of effectiveness and support from professional experience. In the presentation, Whitehurst defines EBE and stresses its importance in creating an American education system that enables all children to achieve at the highest levels. The full PowerPoint presentation is available at
http://www.ed.gov/admins/tchrqual/evidence/whitehurst.ppt.

Making decisions about what constitutes strong or scientifically based evidence is not a simple task. Sometimes, just locating the best available evidence on a program or strategy may be a challenge. Though complicated, holding education reform programs up to the standards of SBR promises to strengthen these programs’ ability to transform student achievement.

Key Concerns
Currently, the research bases of most methods do not meet the SBR standard. To help schools evaluate the quality of the research that is available, the CSR office in the U.S. Department of Education has developed a Quality of Research decision Tree. The Decision Tree, available on page 17 of Appendix C of the CSR Program Guidance (http://www.ed.gov/programs/compreform/guidance/appendc.doc), helps school staff and technical assistance providers become critical consumers of educational research and critically review the evidence of effects on student achievement.

Field research has indicated that some schools select models without examining a variety of options and considering their research foundations. The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At-Risk (a joint venture of Johns Hopkins University and Howard University) released a study called How Schools Choose Externally Developed Reform Designs
(http://www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techReports/Report35.pdf). Although the study is limited to six schools in Memphis, it indicates that schools are only gathering a moderate amount of information about models. The major findings are that

• Evidence of effectiveness does not appear to be a major consideration.
  
• During early implementation, more progress was being made in schools where educators' choices of models were more fully informed.

The ESEA legislation has mandated change in such practice for schools receiving CSR funding.

Resources
The following resources are highlights of the tools available in this section that directly address this new component’s requirements:

• Improving the Reading Comprehension of America's Children: 10 Research-Based Principles (2001) by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement presents 10 research-based principles that describe how to improve reading comprehension. http://www.ciera.org/library/instresrc/compprinciples/index.html
• Effective Instructional Practices (2000) by McREL presents the nine most powerful types of instructional practices that research links to improved student achievement. These instructional strategies can be widely applied and generally are effective for any student, at any grade level, in any subject area. In addition to a synthesis of the research for each type of instruction, there are multiple suggestions for classroom practice. Spiral-bound participants’ manuals ($18.75) may be purchased from McREL. For more information visit http://www.mcrel.org/topics/productDetail.asp? topicsID=14&productID=102.
• The Southern Regional Education Board’s Instructional Strategies: How Teachers Teach Matters is a guide designed to help teachers use various teacher-directed and student-centered strategies to increase student involvement in and responsibility for their own learning. It emphasizes good instructional planning and several types of instructional strategies. http://www.sreb.org/programs/hstw/publications/ site-guides/Instructional_Strategies.pdf
• Tools for Schools: School Reform Models Supported by the National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students by the U.S. Department of Education presents information on 27 models for schools with significant populations of at-risk students. While most of the models described are comprehensive school reform models, there are some curriculum classroom and professional development models as well. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ToolsforSchools/index.html

Question from the Field: "What questions should I ask before selecting a CSR model?"

Selecting a CSR model is a difficult process of determining your school's needs, examining the broad array of models available and finding a model that can build on your school's strengths while addressing its weaknesses. Those weighing school reform options and in need of help sifting through the available information should ask the following critical questions:

• Can the model demonstrate positive effects on student achievement?
• Can the model demonstrate positive effects on additional outcomes?
• Can the model clearly demonstrate links between research on “what works” and the components of its design?
• Can the provider’s services and supports to schools enable those schools to successfully implement the program?
• Is the model provider financially sound?
• Can the provider deliver high-quality services to all schools implementing the program?